Tailoring Your Dreams.
Tailoring Your Dreams.
Martha’s Vineyard, colloquially known as the Vineyard, is a charming island nestled in the U.S. state of Massachusetts, just south of the renowned Cape Cod. Celebrated for its status as a prestigious and affluent summer colony, the island encompasses the smaller Chappaquiddick Island peninsula. It ranks as the 58th largest island in the United States, boasting a land area of approximately 96 square miles (250 square kilometers), and holds the distinction of being the third-largest island on the East Coast, trailing only Long Island and Mount Desert Island. Martha’s Vineyard forms the principal part of Dukes County, Massachusetts, which also includes the Elizabeth Islands and Nomans Land.
Since the 1960s, the island’s year-round population has seen a significant surge. The 2023 Martha’s Vineyard Commission report highlighted that the year-round population had grown to 20,530, up from 16,460 in 2010. During the summer months, the population skyrockets to over 200,000 residents and visitors. It is noteworthy that around 56 percent of the Vineyard’s 14,621 homes are occupied seasonally.
In a 2006 study conducted by the Martha’s Vineyard Commission, it was discovered that the cost of living on the island is 60 percent higher than the national average, with housing prices being 96 percent higher. Another Commission study focusing on housing needs revealed that the average weekly wage on Martha’s Vineyard was “71 percent of the state average, the median home price was 54 percent above the states, and the median rent surpassed the states by 17 percent,” illustrating a stark disparity in income levels between permanent residents and their seasonal counterparts.
While some suggest that the island was named after English explorer Bartholomew Gosnold’s daughter Martha, it is more plausible that both the island and his daughter were named after his affluent mother-in-law, Martha (Judde) Golding, who partially financed his 1602 expedition—the first documented European expedition to Cape Cod. Originally, a smaller island to the south bore the name “Martha’s Vineyard,” but over time, this designation became associated with the larger island. This makes it the eighth-oldest surviving English place name in the United States. The island was later referred to as Martin’s Vineyard, possibly in honor of a captain in the exploratory party, John Martin; many individuals and maps up to the 18th century used this name.
In the late 19th century, the United States Board on Geographic Names sought to standardize place names and dropped apostrophes, briefly renaming the island to Marthas Vineyard. However, the Board reversed this decision in the early 20th century, making Martha’s Vineyard one of the few place names in the United States that retains a possessive apostrophe.
Historian Henry Franklin Norton documented that Native Americans referred to the island as Noepe or Capawock. The 1691 Massachusetts Charter, which transferred the island from the Province of New York following the dissolution of the Dominion of New England, referred to it as Cappawock.